I prefer those times when I can’t remember which particular day I fished a particular spot, or caught a particular fish, because the fishing days are so frequent, they all tend to merge into one seamless, endless session. Over the October long weekend and the following week, a procession of sessions with the usual eclectic mix of friends was a typical example, a highlight of which was finally getting to fish with Andrew Fuller from The Flyfisher for a few days.

But then, real life kind of took over and everything got out of balance. Work, moving house, the big wet, the consequent outbreak of farm weeds and grass to be slashed, then a dose of Covid (not well received), and “OMG it’s nearly Christmas”. I know, there’s not one really serious drama amongst all that lot and I’m not expecting sympathy… but I’ve managed no better than a trip a week since then.

Meanwhile, lake levels have been doing all the right things and the streams throughout the Snowy Monaro region are in epic shape. After three seasons of good rain and great conditions, and with this year’s deluge, there hardly seems to be a river or creek that isn’t hosting 5lb + fish. Even creeks that are dry more years than they’re not, are producing spectacular fish.

One of the little side tasks over the last month has been converting the Quintrex F450 back from commercial registration to recreational registration for sale to a friend, Peter; and getting his boat licence logbook all signed up. Sounds simple enough? Anyway a shout out to the guys from Maritime for their efforts to help me with the registration, but not so for the lunatics who set the policy in place that required a trip to sight the boat by an officer from the south coast, and a hull identification number inspection by a boat dealer – before I could lodge the form!

Anyway, I had one more boat trip to do with Peter this week, so we went down to Buckenderra (where I also had to drop something off) and took the boat up the Middlingbank Arm to Tryvilla inlet. It looked amazing, and even though it was freezing (having snowed earlier in the day) and there was no real rise, we still got some fish.

Lake Eucumbene is currently at 63.8% and rising steadily. The fishing has been superb, and my regular informants report excellent quality and well-fed fish. This will be another fantastic summer season and who knows, we might still get to 70%.

Lake Jindabyne spilled again at the beginning of the month, and ever since there’s been a big effort to get water out and create some air space. It’s now hovering around 95%. The Snowy River downstream must be in fantastic shape after all that water. Fishing reports have been positive for the whole lake, with a great video sent to me of a big worm-hunting brown cruising around the flooded caravan park cabins.

Tantangara Reservoir is at 49%. I imagine that’s higher than Snowy Hydro would like it, but the portal to Eucumbene is probably the only option to let water out at the moment, with all the flood risk for the towns downstream along the Murrumbidgee.

As I said, it’s going to be a great summer season with every bit of water firing. Don’t miss out!